I used a super stretchy knitted cast on, and it works like a charm. I also lowered the neck and shortened the body and sleeves because the yarn grows a little bit after blocking.

The yarn is a dream to knit with, especially with metal needles it glides like butter. It also has that nice halo like the yarn called for in the pattern, win!

Even unblocked the yarn is soft and warm, light and airy and evenly spun, and after blocking it really blooms. It holds the 2x2 ribbing nice and bouncy. Only little shedding while knitting compared to other alpaca yarns I’ve tried - this one is tightly wound.

The yarn relaxes after wearing a couple of times and feels a bit too light after some time. For this design I would choose a slightly heavier yarn. The yarn begs for an airy cardigan! Maybe I will frog and re-use in the future, but for now I’m enjoying the sweater :)